Match packet



Sept. 10, 1935.

R. s. PULLEN 2,013,991

MATCH PACKET Filed Jan. 19, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Wnes es: I Q

404M ljy 0412 1572 713616 Sept. 10, 1935. R. s. PULLEN 2,013,991

MATCH PACKET Filed Jan. 19, 1932 2 SheetsSheet 2 Patented Sept. 10, 1935UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MATCH PACKET tion of PennsylvaniaApplication January 19, 1932, Serial No. 587,564

3 Claims.

My invention pertains to match packets. and has for its primary purposethe provision of a packet by which matches are ignited upon withdrawalin a single motion, and which, when the matches have been fired, may berefilled with unfired matches for reuse.

A further purpose is to unite a match packet, of the type in which thematches light on withdrawal, by means of a readily removable fastenmg,so that the fastening may be released and the packet refilled withmatches after a previous filling of matches have been used.

A further purpose is toequip a match packet with a bale forming endclosures for the packet and with corrugated material within the bale toconfine the match heads for the purpose of retarding their withdrawal atan early period of travel.

A further purpose is to provide an auxiliary cover or keeper, which isadapted to retain one of the folds of the packet in place when thepacket is in use, and which is slidable to release the fold to expose aplurality of openings for the insertion of unfired matches.

A further purpose is to provide a match packet having a bale forming endclosures for the packet, having corrugated material extending part ofthe length of the matches and having striking material on the face ofthe rest of the length within the bale, so as to avoid lateralconstruction of the match heads after they are withdrawn from v thecorrugated portions, and present additional air space adjacent thestriking material to accentuate the flash.

A further purpose is to make the match striking material of sufiicientthickness to ignite several matches reliably.

Further purposes appear in the specification and in the claims.

In the drawings I illustrate one main form of my invention, withvariations, the forms being selected because they are satisfactory inoperation, convenient in illustration and suitable for explanation ofthe principles involved.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a scored cardboard strip which, whenfolded on the scoring, forms the outer cover of the packet.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front elevation of a scored card- 5 board strip which,when folded on the scoring,

forms a bale for the packet.

Figure 4 is a broken front elevation of a corrugated strip for theretention of the match heads.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the strip as shown in 55 Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a similar view to Figure 5, showing a modified form.

Figure 7 is a plan view of the match packet assembled and with thematches in place.

Figure 8 is a front elevation of Figure 7. 5

Figure 9 is an end elevation of Figure 7.

Figure 10 is an enlarged section taken on line Ill-40 of Figure 8,looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 11 is an enlarged section taken on line 10 I i-il of Figure 8,looking in the direction of the arrows and the keeper being moved down.

Figure 12 is a front elevation of a scored cardboard strip which, whenfolded on the scoring and fastened, forms a sliding retaining keeper 5or auxiliary cover for the packet.

Figure 13 is a top View of the strip illustrated in Figure 12 in itsfolded form and with its ends joined to form a keeper.

Figure 14 is a front elevation of Figure 13. 20

Figure 15 is a perspective view of the assembled packet, the keeperbeing moved to a position exposing the ends of the match sticks topermit them to be grasped for withdrawal.

Figure 16 is a perspective view of the packet 25 with the keeper removedand the closure flap opened, several unfired matches being positionedfor refilling.

Figure 17 is an end elevation, partly in section, of a modified form,illustrating an additional flap 30 extension for entirely enclosing thesticks of the matches.

Describing in illustration and not in limitation and referring to thedrawings:

My packet is particularly designed for ready 35 refillability when theoriginal charge of matches contained in it has been used. A secondimportant feature of my packet is the inexpensive construction, whichmakes it possible to use the packet until the match striking material isworn, 4 and then throw the packet away, without great loss.

In Figures 1 to 5, inclusive, I have illustrated the several componentparts of the interior of my improved packet, wherein .20 indicates the45 outer cover, which is divided into two broad sections 2| and 22, andan intervening narrow section 23, by scoring 24 and 25. The broadsection 22 is again scored at 26 to provide a flexible flap portion 21extending outward of the body of the completed packet.

In Figure 3, I have shown a bale 28, divided into five sections 29, 30,3|, 32 and 33, section 36 being the widest and approximately twice thewidth of either section 29 or section 3!, while sections 32 and 33 arecomparatively narrow. The bale 28 is scored at 34, 35, 36 and 31, and isfolded upon the scoring to surround the matches, as shown in Figures 7and 10.

Figures 4 and 5 show a piece of corrugated board 38 composed of coverstrips 39 and 40, between which a narrow corrugated strip 4| is held.This piece 38 is adapted to be permanently secured within the folds ofthe bale and to hold a match in each corrugation as clearly shown inFigure 10.

A corrugated strip 42, Figure 6, may be substituted for the piece 38,and the sections 30, and 29 and 3| joined, of the bale insert, may beutilized as side walls for the corrugations, in place of the coverstrips 39 and 40 shown in Figures 4 and 5. In this case the strikingmaterial will be on the walls 30 and 23, 3|, in a position correspondingto that of the striking material 54.

The piece 38 preferably has a corrugated strip 4| of. sufiiciently shortdimension longitudinally of the matches to permit the insertion of matchstriking material on the walls of the piece beyond the strip 4| in thedirection of the stick end of the match, as later explained.

A blank from which a keeper is formed is shown at 43, Figures 12 to 14,and consists of a rectangular strip of cardboard divided into threebroad sections 44, 45 and 43, and two narrow sections 41 and 48. Thesesections are divided by scored lines 49, 50, 5| and 52, and are foldedon the scoring to form the keeper 43 as illustrated in Figures 13 and14, the broad section 45 being overlapped upon and united with thesection 44 by adhesive material.

The assembled packet is shown in Figures 7 to.

11, inclusive, and Figure 15 shows a perspective view of the packetready for the withdrawal and firing of the matches.

Referring now to Figures 10 and 11, the corrugated piece 38 is shownpositioned at the bottom of the packet and between the section 30, andthe sections 29 and 3| of the bale 28, which is folded to form a closedconfiguration. A match 53 is positioned head down within eachcorrugation, with the stick portion extending upward and beyond thelimit of the bale. Ignition material 54 is applied to the inner faces ofthe cover strips 39 and 40 beyond the corrugated portion 4| in thedirection of the stick end of the match.

The ignition material 54 'is preferably located some distance from theend of the corrugated strip 4|, a jump space 55 being left so that,during withdrawal of the match, the match may gain speed before itstrikes the ignition material. The corrugated strip 4| serves to retardthe match, requiring a considerable force to withdraw it, and insuringthat withdrawal will take place with a jerk. The space 40'then permitsacceleration of the match, when the retardation is overcome, causing thematch to encounter the surfaces of the striking material 54 atconsiderable speed.

The cover 20 is fastened at one side to thebale 28 in any suitable way,as by adhesive material applied between the section 22 of the cover 29and the abutting sections 29 and 3| of the bale 28.

The section 23 of the strip 20 is then folded over the lower end of thepiece 38, adjacent the match heads, and the section 2| of the strip 20is folded against the section 30 of the bale 28. The packet is thenunited by sliding the keeper 43 over the end of the packet, so that thekeeper will hold the section 2| of the strip 23 in place. The keeper 43is free to slide vertically upon the packet and may be removed entirelytherefrom if desired.

When it is desired to ignite a match, the keeper 43 is moved to thebottom of the package if it is not already there, the flap end 2'! isforced back upon the scoring 26, away from the match sticks, asufiicient distance to permit the user to grasp a stick end between thethumb and a finger. With the match stick thus grasped, he exertssuflicient pull upon the stick to enable him to dislodge the head frombetween the walls of the corrugated piece 38 and to draw it through thejump space 55 and across the surface of the ignition material 54, 1causing the head of the match to fire as it is withdrawn from thepackage.

It will be noted that the corrugated strip 38 holds the match headsnugly and considerable exertion is required to dislodge it from itsposi- 1 tion. When the head finally lets go its hold, it does sosuddenly, resulting in an accelerated speed of. the match head acrossthe remaining unrestricted interval between the corrugated piece and theouter end of the match chamber. This action results in the match headcontacting with the ignition material and passing across it rapidly,thus assuring the firing of the head.

It will be further noted that the cross sectional area of the chamber 56within which the head of 2 the match travels after leaving thecorrugated portions, is greater than the cross sectional area of thecorrugations in which the head is held thus providing room for thepresence of excess oxygen about the head at the time of firing, assuringa proper flash.

The bale 28 forms a tight closure for both ends of the packet, while theouter cover closes the bottom of the corrugations adjacent the matchheads. Moisture is thus prevented from affecting the 3 compositionforming the heads of the matches.

As a further modification I have shown in Figure 17 an extension 27' ofthe cover flap 21, which when closed and surrounded by the keeper 43,entirely encloses the packet, and excludes all mois- 4 ture or foreignmatter from entering the top of the packet and coming in contact withthe matches or ignition material.

When all the matches have been withdrawn from the packet and fired, thekeeper is removed 4 and the sections 2| and 23 of the cover strip areunfolded to a position shown in Figure 16. The end of the corrugatedpiece 38 and the now empty spaces are exposed to view and one newunfired match is threaded into each opening. The stick 5 ends areinserted first and forced into the spaces until the tip ends of theheads are flush with the bottom of the piece 38. Figure 16 illustratesthis operation, the matches at the far side of the packet being shown intheir proper place, two on 5 the nearer side being in the process ofinsertion, and the two nearest matches being aligned ready forinsertion.

When the matches are all in place, the sections 2| and 23 are againfolded about the packet, the 6 keeper 43 is replaced and the packet isagain ready for use.

It is quite obvious that the corrugated piece as shown in Figures 9 and5 may, if desired, be assembled filled with matches to form a renewal 6unit, and this assembly may be inserted direct within the bale toreplace a similar one from which the matches have all been withdrawn.

The form of Figure 17 is desirable even where the packet is not intendedto be refilled, since the 7 keeper 43 may be moved up to close the stickend of the packet and cover the folded end of the flap as there shown,and even where the form of the other figures is employed, the keeper 43may be moved toward the stick ends of the matches to give a desirablemomentary wind protection for the match immediately after it has beenstruck, and to protect the stick ends when the packet is carried in thepocket.

In View of my invention and disclosure variations and modifications tomeet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident toothers skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of myinvention Without copying the structure shown, and I, therefore, claimall such in so far as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scopeof my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A match packet comprising a bale of generally rectangular contour, acover secured to one side of the bale, a corrugated strip within thebale extending lengthwise of the bale for less than the full length ofthe bale, matches located in the spaces formed by the corrugated stripand extending longitudinally of the bale with their heads positioned inthe spaces formed by the corrugated strip, and match-striking materiallocated within the bale and adjoining the match sticks beyond thecorrugated strip in the direction of the stickends of the matches andspaced longitudinally of the matches from the corrugated strip, wherebythe matches pass across the match-striking material and are ignitedduring withdrawal from the spaces formed by the corrugations and thebale encloses the match head at the time that it is struck.

2. A match packet comprising an outer cover, a bale within and securedto one side only of the cover, an insert having corrugations for part ofthe longitudinal length of the insert, the bale having side and endwalls forming a receptacle for holding the insert within the bale, aplurality of safety matches arranged side by side within thecorrugations, ignition material on the opposing inner faces of theinsert, beyond the corrugated portion of the insert, in the direction ofthe stick ends of the matches with respect to the corrugations and theends of the bale enclosing the matches within the corrugations of theinsert at the head ends of the matches, the matches lighting uponwithdrawal from the packet.

3. A match packet comprising an outer cover, a bale within and securedto one side only of the cover, the bale having side and end Wallsforming a receptacle for holding an insert, the insert havingcorrugations for part of the longitudinal length of the insert withinthe bale, a plurality of safety matches arranged side by side within thecorrugations, match striking material on the opposing inner faces of theinsert, beyond the corrugated portion of the insert in the direction ofthe stick ends of the matches with respect to the length of thecorrugations and the ends of the bale inclosing the matches within thecorrugations of the insert at the head ends of the matches and inclosingthe match striking material and a keeper surrounding the packet to coverthe packet at the stick end of the packet when the packet is not in useand being slidable upon the packet away from the stick ends of thematches to allow for withdrawal of the matches.

RODNEY S. PULLEN.

